Sarah Inderbitzin makes the pass as Manteca’s volleyball team plays an intra-squad scrimmage.

DAVE CAMPBELL/The Bulletin/

Manteca volleyball coach Kevin Bolding hopes good numbers from the summer coupled with a core group of returners will give his team the depth they sorely needed last season.

“We had a lot of girls out there this summer,” Bolding said. “All levels combined we had 40 to 50.

“They worked hard, and with it being a hot summer, that made it even tougher. But we learned a lot.”

Bolding will have the benefit of four three-year starters: senior Sarah Inderbitzin and juniors Kaitlyn Morenzone, Kacy Bolding and Payton Reis.

“They are steady,” Coach Bolding said of the quartet. “They have gotten better and they are just solid.

“We brought some players back but we had to have to work on our depth.”

The Buffaloes were in the hunt for a playoff spot in 2016 until they dropped three of their last four games.

“That was all about the numbers,” Coach Bolding said of last year’s late-season collapse. “That was really tough when two people got hurt. We were not as deep then as hopefully we are now.

“We have all grade levels represented on the varsity and we have tried to add some depth to cover those sorts of things, even though it is nothing that you plan for. We definitely do not want to look back – we want to look forward.”

Manteca opens the season Saturday, Aug. 26 at the West Campus Tournament at Cosumnes River College and hosts West of Tracy for a Foundation Game on Monday, Aug. 28.